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Saturday, May 23, 2015

Walking amid Clouds

Ever
wondered what would it be like to walk amid clouds? Japan’s Sasaki Architecture
gives us an impressive surreal glimpse
of this experience in a recent interior project…

Led
by Ar. Ryuichi Sasaki, the team has re-designed a low-ceiling warehouse in Tokyo
in a never-seen-before manner.

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The idea behind the
renovation project was to open up the space in the attic of a warehouse
building that had a low ceiling height of 2.1m with only 1.7m under the beams,
causing an oppressive feeling in the space.

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Treating
the approx. 195 sq. m floor area and ceiling in concrete, while plaster board
and paint cover the walls, the architect has opened up the space by creating floating
pillars and walls — all painted in white. The pillars and beans surround the
space as drifting white walls, while light enhances the sense of these‘floating’ walls,
thus, giving rise to the feeling of walking amidst ‘wall
clouds’.

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Akin
to a maze of floating pillars, which at once call attention to the ceiling and
yet alleviate the claustrophobic feeling it generated hitherto, the space sports
a three-dimensional effect; which is further enhanced with the use of glass
partitions that section out the layout, adding on to the illusion and creating
a seamless feel.

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The
beams and other components are reconsidered as different spatial components,
and are redefined in the space. Floating
walls in the entrance lounge function as shelves or counter desks. The entire
area is visually divided into two major zones – one adjacent to the entrance
lounge that visually achieves a sense of
unity and openness, and the other in the back, which consists of a single
space, where all walls are floating.

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An
oppressive space that challenged space-planners and lay waiting for a
transformational master stroke is finally regenerated into an impressive,
pleasant and lively work space and lounge.